It was a great afternoon for those IndyCar fans who like their racing dramatic — as in “Real Housewives” dramatic. Instead of NBC and ABC, IndyCar should consider signing a TV deal and rerun this race on the Bravo network.

The 40th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday was a hot mess, which doesn’t mean it wasn’t exciting or entertaining.

It just had the aesthetics of a 3-year-old’s finger painting.

At the day’s end, only two of 23 drivers left the streets of Long Beach feeling keen about their day — Mike Conway, the street-race specialist who deftly avoided the carnage and won his second Long Beach Grand Prix, and third-place rookie Carlos Munoz, who was “Fast and Fortunate,” earning his second podium appearance.

Everyone else was angry, frustrated, chagrined or in every other emotional state in between.

Seven of the 23 cars were KO’d during the race, and several drivers managed to be running at race end in spite of their ineffective work behind the wheel.

Pole sitter Ryan Hunter-Reay looked like he was going to be a wire-to-wire winner, then got impatient and took out himself and six other cars, including his Andretti Autosport teammate James Hinchcliffe.

Scott Dixon had the lead late but ran out of gas and also clipped Justin Wilson in a California no-fault incident.

Sebastien Bourdais, who started third, twice drove his car into the tires. Will Power finished second but was red-faced for a bump, unpenalized, that cost Simon Pagenaud his shot at the win.

There were eight penalties assessed and four yellow flags that ate up 18 of the 80 laps.

The day was reminiscent of the 2000 race, when 14 of 26 cars were knocked out during the race, allowing Paul Tracy, who started 17th, to win; or the 2002 race, when 10 of 20 cars were sidelined and Michael Andretti, starting 15th, won thanks to pit strategy.

Conway started 17th and led just the final three laps and only because the yellow flag timing ruined his pit strategy and fuel plans.

“I didn’t really see what happened. I saw the last part as I approached the corner. I heard over the radio that there was an incident and that I should stay right.”

Conway is a street car specialist who was hired this season by Ed Carpenter Racing in a unique deal — Conway drives the road and street courses while team owner and veteran driver Carpenter would drive the ovals.

“It’s always like (that) on street courses,” Conway said about the incidents. “It’s Long Beach. There’s the hairpin, which is tight. It’s easy enough to hit someone’s backside in several places on the track.”

Even by those standards, the Hunter-Reay inspired wreck was bravissimo.

“I saw (Josef Newgarden) come out of the pits with cold tires, and it looked like he was struggling,” Hunter-Reay said. “I could have waited to later, but it looked like the right time.

“I feel bad because the other cars behind me didn’t deserve to get caught up in that.”

Newgarden’s car moved left when clipped by Hunter-Reay and right into the path of Hinchcliffe.

Power had a bad day qualifying Saturday and started 14th in the field but was, as expected, moving up on the field when he pulled behind Pagenaud on lap 32.

He clipped Pagenaud and sent him spinning.

“It’s my bad. I thought he had a flat tire or something because he was going really slow,” Power said.

The Frenchman was able to regain control, finish the race and earn fifth, but he was less than happy about the circumstances.

After the race, he pulled alongside Power and waved his right index finger at him.

“I made sure which hand I was using,” he said. “I hate to complain, but it wasn’t right to me. I had a great chance to win and it ruined my day.”

Dixon’s bid for his first Long Beach win came down to pit strategy that was foiled by the timing of incidents.

He chose to pit about six laps before the big wreck and quickly assumed the lead once the yellow flag went up.

The decision became to pit for fuel and lose the lead or try and squeeze a finish out of what he had.

“I was thinking of coming in to pit, but I wasn’t going to win if I did,” Dixon said. “I was a half-lap short of gas.”

He pulled off on lap 77 when his crew said he was done.

“I didn’t want to run out of gas on the track and cause an accident,” Dixon said.